Commercial and general aeronautical activities within the United States are regulated by the Federal Aviation Regulations, contained within Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations, and are enforced by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In general, the Federal Aviation Regulations define standards, certification requirements, flight rules and operational criteria that effect all facets of aviation activities. Under Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations—General Operating and Flight Rules, Subpart B—General Flight Rules, several definitions and rules are listed which define various criteria for operation of an aircraft within several classifications of airspace. More specifically, provisions are listed that may be used to temporarily limit or restrict flight operations in a localized area. This is commonly referred to as a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR). Some of these rules, which have been exercised in higher volume include: 91.137—Temporary flight restrictions; 91.139—Emergency air traffic rules; 91.141—Flight restrictions in the proximity of the Presidential and other parties; and 91.143—Flight limitations in the proximity of space flight operations.
Prior to the terrorist events of Sep. 11, 2001, temporary flight restrictions were typically created near the vicinity of major wildfires in order to provide a safer flight-operating environment for firefighting aircraft in that area. Incursions by “non official” aircraft into these types of temporarily restricted airspace occurred on a somewhat regular basis, especially if the restricted airspace was in or near a congested metropolitan airspace. Although severe monetary and criminal consequences for such incidents were, and still remain possible, authorities often handled these situations by speaking with the pilot or flight crew and providing them with a thorough review of the TFR regulations. If the incursion was deemed by the authorities to be deliberate, or if the pilot had a record of repeated violations of this type, a temporary suspension, heightened observation of the pilot, or permanent revocation of the pilot certificate was likely.
Since the terrorist attacks of Sep. 11, 2001 supervision and punishment of TFR infractions has dramatically increased. The FAA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and possibly the United States Secret Service investigates TFR violations and enforces the TFR regulations to the fullest extent possible. A pilot who is a first offender of a TFR can expect to be fined a minimum of $10,000, be imprisoned and/or receive certificate suspension/revocation. Also, in TFRs which have been created for national security purposes, the military is authorized to shoot down any aircraft that is in violation of the TFR. As such, flight crews and aircraft operators are currently exercising extreme caution regarding navigation around TFRs.
Under current conditions, a pilot or other member of the flight crew who is planning a Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight (a flight where the pilot navigates an aircraft using visual references external to the aircraft) typically consults an FAA Flight Service Station an official internet site for current weather, current TFRs and other critical information for flight planning. Since TFRs have become such important flying restrictions, with such severe consequences, this information is usually regarded with high interest. While the FAA attempts to provide graphical TFRs via the Internet, there have been frequent occurrences where these graphics have not been immediately available to the pilot. In such situations, a pilot typically contacts a flight briefer to obtain such information. After the pilot has obtained the position and size of any existing TFR from the flight briefer, the pilot may manually plot the location of the TFR and create a flight plan to navigate around the TFR. Accordingly, a need exists for a device that permits manual flight planning and navigation to be plotted on a standard aeronautical chart without requiring external power or other sophisticated systems.